U.S.-China Cold War and a New Battle for Technological and Economic Dominance
In this episode of DC Insiders, Dmitri Alperovitch, chair of Silverado Policy Accelerator and author of "World on the Brink: How America Can Beat China in the Race for the 21st Century," shares with host Wenchi Yu that the U.S. is engaged in a "Cold War II" with China, a comprehensive global competition encompassing technological, economic, military, political and geostrategic dimensions, including arms, trade, space and spy races, which he deems an existential threat to America's global standing. He highlights critical cybersecurity threats from China, such as "Volt Typhoon" targeting critical infrastructure for potential future disruption, particularly in a conflict over Taiwan, and "Salt Typhoon" aimed at espionage within U.S. telecom networks. Alperovitch notes the significant improvement in China's cyber capabilities, placing them among top-tier threat actors, with all such activities being state-sponsored. To win this competition, he stresses the necessity for the U.S. to dominate key technologies and their components: semiconductors, for which Taiwan is a "critical epicenter," and critical minerals, where the U.S. currently depends on Chinese processing and refining due to unfair trade practices. Other crucial areas include AI, space technology, biotechnology, medical sciences and energy security. Alperovitch underscores Taiwan's vital geostrategic importance, viewing it as crucial for containing China's power projection in East Asia and emphasizing deterrence as the primary goal given Taiwan's natural defensive advantages.
